In a world
brimming with cant and cliches, the acrid wit of a
poet like Dorothy Parker is as welcome as fresh winds in a crowded, musty
room. Parker (1893-1967) got her start as a drama critic for Vanity
Fair and moved on as a regular columnist for The New Yorker.
She later produced several acclaimed works of poetry (Enough Rope,
Sunset Gun, and Death And Taxes), two collections of short
stories (Laments For The Living, After Such Pleasures), and
wrote two Broadway plays ("Close Harmony," "Ladies of the Corridor"). With
sententious candor she probed the darker sides of love and relationships
and proved that light verse was no less admirable for being sardonic than
for being dulcet.

Below is a
smidgen of her genius, along with a few good references.

Unfortunate
Coincidence

By the time you swear you're his,

Shivering and sighing,

And he vows his passion is

Infinite, undying --

Lady, make a note of this:

One of you is lying.

Resume

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

General
Review Of The Sex Situation

Woman wants monogamy;

Man delights in novelty.

Love is woman's moon and sun;

Man has other forms of fun.

Woman lives but in her lord;

Count to ten, and man is bored.

With this the gist and sum of it,

What earthly good can come of it?

Frustration

If I had a shiny gun,

I could have a world of fun

Speeding bullets through the brains

Of the folk who give me pains;

Or had I some poison gas,

I could make the moments pass

Bumping off a number of

People whom I do not love.

But I have no lethal weapon --

Thus does Fate our pleasure step on!

So they still are quick and well

Who should be, by rights, in hell.

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,

I'm pretty sure to make my mark.

If I'm in bed each night by ten.

I may get back my looks again.

If I abstain from fun and such.

I'll probably amount to much;

But I shall stay the way I am.

Because I do not give a damn.

Charles
Dickens

Who call him spurious and shoddy

Shall do it o'er my lifeless body.

I heartily invite such birds

To come outside and say those words!

Philosophy

If I should labor through daylight and dark,

Consecrate, valorous, serious, true,

Then on the world I may blazon my mark;

And what if I don't, and what if I do?

Anecdote:

Parker,
enjoying quite a reputation for punning, was once challenged to make a pun
out of "horticulture". Her response: "You can lead a horticulture, but
you can't make her think."

Works
On Dorothy Parker:

John Keats,
You Might As Well Live: The Life And Times Of Dorothy Parker
(1986).